Final Innovation Without the Hype film

Today, FileMaker released the final episode in our new film series, Innovation Without theHype.

With the company’s best people tied up in spreadsheets, our Problem Solver suggests the obvious solution: a custom app built on FileMaker’s Workplace Innovation Platform. But could the solution for doing more actually involve thinking less?

Ah yes, the plague of spreadsheets!I would have liked to have seen that represented even more than the "think less" antithesis (though resorting to spreadsheets is definitely thinking less). It's funny how many people take pride in escaping the clutches of Excel only to get trapped between the Sheets of Google Drive. I've seen the horror of people needing spreadsheets to keep track of their spreadsheets and hand-entering data from other systems into spreadsheets (while carefully adding their user names and date and time entered).

Sadly, when IT managers find out any user with FileMaker Pro Advanced can create a database or application, it seems to scare them even more than the spreadsheets. The business managers, on the other hand, are often proud they have staff with such magical powers—until some smooth-talking IT manager, wielding Excalibur, comes along and promises to protect them from the spooky black magic of WIPs and to take care of everything for them with their noble programming teams, the chivalrous knights of The Round Table, and thus live happily ever after (again). Only King Arthur can't seem to get by without literally hiring foreign mercenaries to achieve everything they promised to build and support the hard way.

While this series is far better than the "Farm" series, my opinion is these commercials are far too heavy on goofy humor and far too light on what makes Filemaker a compelling product for serious work. I am working with large Corporations, and when I share that our solution is built with Filemaker, I get a blank stare, or I am subjected to subtle and not so subtle put downs about using this product. Filemaker's perception in the market is "light weight" and not one of respect within much of the Corporate development community. It is a perception born out of ignorance, but these type of ad campaigns really do not help.

I'm not a marketing person, so I don't pretend to know the best answer, but I do feel this current line of marketing does not present Filemaker in a serious light that would attract serious developers. Instead, I would prefer to see points made that are shared with us at Devcon. I.e. Filemaker is a LONG TIME Profitable subsidiary of Apple. Filemaker is a stable committed business partner. In the age of diversity, Filemaker is a platform that does not tie customers to only one platform or delivery mechanism. Diversity is good for people and it is also good for computing platforms. Serious well integrated solutions can be developed with the Filemaker Platform. The Filemaker Platform allows development of Web based solutions without resorting to archaic hand coding of HTML and CSS. The truly visual development focus of the Filemaker platform can save development time by factors of 2 to 10x the speed of other popular tools. The Filemaker platform allows implementation of best practice security protocols with far less effort and far more reliability than other platforms.

There are many other key differentiators. But I really saw almost none of these presented in the scope of this marketing campaign. Maybe that is too detailed for the intended audience? I don't know, but I would like to see THESE benefits promoted and targeted to potential developers and in the educational sphere. We aren't selling flowers, auto repair services or tooth brushes to the general public on TV or via Facebook. I would like to see marketing videos that I can show to mid level managers at fortune 1000 companies and even small businesses, that will further a serious perception of Filemaker.

For the things you are looking for, there are other videos targeted for that kind of brand awareness and product education.

The Customer Stories on the main FileMaker page are very compelling. It gives weight to the power of the platform, how mature it is, and how it can help with the goals of the human running an organization.

There are product promotional videos also, that cater more to telling you what FileMaker is, and does. There are a few of them, but could probably be expanded more to increase the education.

Custom App Academy. These videos show power with ease.

File Templates. The new file templates and their intro videos, while not a marketing video really, really show the nuts and bolts of FileMaker and are really well done.

For us, it's in our court to promote all of those videos alongside FileMaker, Inc. And speak with confidence about what FileMaker does do really well. And be honest with ourselves and the client about where it doesn't fit.

Bob Clampett, being my all-time favorite director, I just looove wacky humor. But I concede that the humor in a solution-focused software company should drive home hard some sort of point from beginning to end.

I also think the humor should be more relatable and memorable.

First, I think Baxter's character should have offered solutions that would remind us of solutions we might really see in business. Those are the solutions everyone wants to see lampooned, because it would give everyone a release against very real frustrations.

Let's call the FileMaker champion at the head of the table Stacy. In this series finale, I'd consider driving all the humor on Stacy's first statement.

Stacy: "First off, we can stop tying our best people down with spreadsheets..."

Baxter is wearing a red cape and mounted on a white steed in the meeting room.

Baxter: "Haven't you heard? Digital sheets are the future, princess."

Baxter enticingly holds up and waves a large sheet of obviously flexible electronic paper, with an active spreadsheet on it. He makes eyebrows, winks and kisses towards Stacy, who is repulsed.

While locking his gaze at Stacy, he magically starts pulling off sheet after sheet of digital paper and flinging it to everyone at the table, who are all entranced at the interactive paper with spreadsheets.

The table staff stand up holding their sheets triumphantly in the air, and sing.

Stacy tries to stop Baxter. He trips and falls behind a desk. [CRUNCH!] Pieces of buckets and grass skirt fly into the air. Several Baxters stand up and march out and back in with even more digital sheets.

Suddenly, Stacy wakes up between the sheets of her bed... that turn on and display spreadsheets!

Stacy gasps.

Then she looks to the right and sees Baxter in her bed.

Of course, Stacy screams.

Stacy wakes up again in her office, picks up a hammer, runs up to a large glass-front box that says "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, BREAK GLASS". She heaves the hammer at the glass (nod to Apple's 1984 commercial) and pulls out of the box and quickly dons a backpack blower, reminiscent of Ghost Busters but bearing Filemaker logos, and proceeds to blast away all the sheets of paper in the office.

Who are these targeted to? Maybe that's where I'm off. They feel like general TV commercials to me. The "guru" guy doesn't even provide a compelling foil.

With my customers, there is no way I would show them these videos. In my opinion (I know it is just MINE), these diminish the product and the company. It treats the subject too lightly, feels very contrived, and it does not really drive to the heart of the differentiators.

I take my role as a Filemaker ambassador very seriously. Maybe I'm just getting old and grouchy and this is appealing to a younger genre. But even the younger folks I know are looking for more "meat" in the substance. Many of the other materials and stories are more helpful, but Filemaker is spending a lot of time and effort on these particular marketing materials. I'd like to see something that makes the point with a little more seriousness or at least better humor. I know that is somewhat subjective. Something more like the old Mac vs. PC commercials with the two characters representing the platforms.

I'd like to see something like a couple of folks discussing a business issue and one suggests Microsoft Access. The other would say, Access is an excellent tool, but have you tried deploying Access on the Web? It's hell. They actually removed features from the latest version. Have you considered the Filemaker platform? No, what is that? It is a development tool that runs on Windows, Mac, the Cloud, iPhone and Android, and you can have an app. up and running in a Web browser in a matter of hours. Really? We should give that a go for our up coming project.

Anyway, for what it is worth. I hope future "commercials" are more elevating. ;-)

I get where you are coming from. I think of them much like the Super Bowl ads. How many of them actually tell you what the product does? Almost none of them. And even more so in recent years.

One important goal is brand recognition. The world needs more exposure to the word FileMaker. The more they hear it, the more familiar it is. If it's familiar, it typical won't be dismissed as quickly.

Next is brand awareness. That's recognizing a brand's distinctive features or characteristics. The commercials actually don't bring down FileMaker. They show how ridiculous the OTHER options are. We had this situation recently where I work. A business intelligence tool basically sold themselves as a savior for identifying important KPIs, and handling all the work for you. "No need to bother your IT guys with this, we will handle it all." When we finally got pulled into the fray, their marketing video was all man-bun-guy level hype. They couldn't do ANYTHING they promised, and certainly not without involving IT. It was absolutely ridiculous. In the end, even after moving to a more stable, and mature BI platform, we ended up back at FileMaker. We could provide everything those other platforms offered, and make it faster and more reliable. This is not the first, or last, situation where we ended up having to waste time with what turned out to be pure hype.

So, for many, not all, managers and executives sitting in meetings and calls with vendors offering this hype...they too see how ridiculous it is. Many of them will watch those videos and grin and say, "we had a meeting just like that last week. FileMaker, huh. ::intercom to his assistant:: Hey, can you put together everything you can find about FileMaker? Let's meet tomorrow morning and see if it's something that can help us with this problem." I've personally seen that happen a lot. Or the same thing happens at a smaller company, so the manager has no assistant, he does that research himself. That will lead them to the other videos and more detailed info.

The message, to me, says: "You've ignored FileMaker long enough. Let's deflate these hyped up ideas and do some real problem solving using FileMaker."

Except to be share-worthy, I'd want it to show those OTHER options a lot closer to home. It's too easy to think, "That's nothing like the problem I'm trying to solve." The real scenario you gave, on the other hand, is immediately recognizable, and something everyone wants help avoiding. Satirized adequately, we'd then have something to share and laugh about, thanking FMI for poking fun at our real enemies and for offering us a better solution.

My intent is not to bash. I believe FMI is listening. This is a step up from the Farm series. I know there are super smart and talented people at FMI and Apple in marketing. I'm sure far more savvy than myself. BUT, I also know the target market _I_ have to deal with, and I just don't see them responding well to these type of promotions. If this is for a different target market and it hits that market, that is great. I'm asking for something that really hits the mark with quasi technical people in decision roles. Especially if you are going to keep sending me emails touting this great series and asking me to share with my peers and clients.

It DOES feel like a Superbowl commercial, but that is not the market for Filemaker. This would be great for Doritos or Pepsi or Subaru, something the public is already familiar with. Where does Filemaker run/use these adds?